Terry SullivanCanon PowerShot SD500 Digital ElphThe SD500 is a versatile, accurate, fun 7MP compact camera that performed very well on our tests and will appeal to a broad section of shooters. We like it so much, we've awarded it our Editors' Choice.

Macro mode did not produce good results. Flash had some problems in backlit situations.

Bottom Line

The SD500 is a versatile, accurate, fun 7MP compact camera that performed very well on our tests and will appeal to a broad section of shooters. We like it so much, we've awarded it our Editors' Choice.

Canon has added yet another sibling to its ever-popular Digital Elph seriesthe 7.1-megapixel Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Elph. As we've said time and again, having more megapixels doesn't necessarily lead to better images. But we certainly can't argue with this camera's excellent image quality. The SD500 also performed very well on our speed and sharpness tests, and it's got a fun My Color feature that will appeal to many types of shooters. Overall, the SD500 is strong enough to earn Editors' Choice among ultracompact cameras.

Aside from the high megapixel rating, this ultracompact has most of the standard features of its class, including an f/2.8 to f/4.9, 7.7- to 23.1-mm (37- to 111-mm, 35mm equivalent), 3X optical zoom lens. The SD500 is pleasingly comfortable to hold and operate, though it's easy to press the tightly laid-out buttons on the back accidentally during one-handed shooting. We like the optical viewfinder just above the large 2-inch LCD, which maintains a fairly smooth, bright, clear image when panning.

All the standard modes are available via the mode dial as well as through the menu system, including Playback, Auto, Manual (which lets you adjust white balance, ISO, EV compensation, and color effects), Macro, and Movie. Thankfully, the Movie mode lets you capture VGA video clips at 30 frames per second. Other modes available only via the menu system include Stitch Assist (for panoramas) and nine preset scene modes.

One thing we don't like is the mode dial design: Only the center (Manual) mode's label appears level when selected. The labels for Playback, Auto, Macro, and Movie are slanted when you turn the dial. Perhaps it's a little picky to complain about this, but the mode dial is the only part of this nice-looking camera that seems like an afterthought.

The SD500 offers a very interesting shooting mode called My Colors. You can make blues, greens, or reds more vibrant, or lighten or darken skin tones. The Color Accent and Color Swap options create some surreal effects. Color Accent lets you isolate the color of one object, while the color information for the rest of the photograph is dumped. The result might be a bright red rose in the middle of a black-and-white wedding shot. In Color Swap mode, you choose a particular color in a scene on the LCD, and then select the color you want to swap it with. For example, you could isolate someone's bright red T-shirt and swap it with the blue from someone's baseball cap. You have to make your color selections before you shoot, though, so make sure you're not going to miss the shot.

Another unusual feature is an optional DC coupler, supported via a flap on the battery/media compartment door. This lets you run the camera off AC power (via an optional adapter) while you charge the battery in the included external charger. The camera uses SD/MMC media and is rated for approximately 160 shots per battery charge, according to the CIPA standard.

In real-world testing, we found that the SD500 had problems finding the intended focusing point in Macro mode. On Auto settings in this mode, the flash remained active; we believe it should have been turned off. When the flash fired in the macro shots, most of the picture was very overexposedexcept for some areas near the bottom of the image, where a dark shadow appeared because of the extended lens blocking the flash.

On our performance tests, the SD500 did respectably, with a reasonable 2.7-second boot time and a best-in-class 2.3-second recycle time. It also aced our resolution test, averaging 1,625 lines, which is one of the best scores we've seen for a 7MP camera, regardless of size. In fact, so far, only its enthusiast-class big brother, the Canon PowerShot G6, fared better on this test.

Looking at our test shots, we discovered that our daylight shot displayed excellent overall quality, with just a bit of purple fringing. As we expected, details were sharp, with very good dynamic range, accurate colors, and very little noise. The flash shot also had very good color saturation, admirable dynamic range, and very little noise. Flash coverage was also quite impressive, though the SD500 had problems exposing for backlit situationssuch as when a subject stands next to a brightly lit window in a daytime interior shot. We felt the camera should have fired a fill flash in these situations, but it did so only about half the time.

Overall, we like this camera as much for its luxury carlike looks (think BMW 7 series) as for its impressive image quality. Add a couple of unusual features, and this versatile, fun camera wins our Editors' Choice.

Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Elph

excellent

Bottom Line: The SD500 is a versatile, accurate, fun 7MP compact camera that performed very well on our tests and will appeal to a broad section of shooters. We like it so much, we've awarded it our Editors' Choice.

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About the Author

Terry Sullivan has tested and reported on many different types of consumer electronics and technology services, including cameras, action cams, smart phones, wireless speakers, streaming music services, digital-imaging apps, and video-editing software. He has also written extensively on various trends in the worlds of technology, photography, multi... See Full Bio

Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital E...

Canon PowerShot SD500 Digital Elph

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